The Write Stuff
by Sweet Trufflepuff
Summary: "I need you," he blurted out. Greg isn't all that smart, Cho is. What starts out as a cry for help has the potential to become so much more.
1. Chapter 1

The Write Stuff

Disclaimer: I do not own or gain any financial profit from the characters in this story. All recognizable characters are the work of JKR and the Harry Potter Universe.

Greg Goyle was not dumb despite what he let everyone else believe. He was smart. Not Granger smart or Ravenclaw smart, but he wasn't dumb either. He just preferred to keep things simple and straightforward. He never understood why Malfoy made such convoluted plans for everything or why Pansy used such demented logic for some of her schemes.

Honestly, when Malfoy decided he wanted to be with Granger, the things he talked about doing to gain her attention were unimaginable. For some reason beyond Greg's understanding, people went along with Malfoy and his strange plans! Greg once suggested Malfoy just talk to her, ask her out; the look he received right before an eye roll and a 'leave the planning to us, mate' made Greg feel like shite. He kept his mouth closed from that point on and just sat back to watch the show. Greg would, for the rest of his life, wonder what Malfoy was thinking when he tried to ask Granger out the first time and they both ended up in the hospital wing for three days. It took Malfoy another two weeks before he wouldn't blush every time he saw Granger. Schemes number two and three didn't go much better.

In the end, Malfoy talked to Granger and asked her out. Well, if you can call getting into a shouting match in the Great Hall 'talking,' that's what he did. After all, having someone shout that they like you and have been trying to ask you out and having it shouted back at you is a great way to bring an end to a confrontation. Shockingly to most, it worked! It would have been nice if someone had remembered that he'd made that suggestion in the beginning, but no one ever did. And after so many years, he was used to it.

So he watched her...not stalking-watching, because that was creepy. But he watched her in class, listening when she answered a question or made a point. As he watched and listened, he started to form a plan. It took three more days, loads of snide comments directed at his intelligence and another 'Poor' on his latest essay for Herbology to get him to act.

He approached her in the library but stopped before he got to her. There was Blaise Zabini chatting her up. Before Greg could decide what to do, she got up and gathered her study materials. She was quietly listening to what Zabini was saying, some shite about how rich he was, before turning to him with a brilliant smile and verbally tearing him to shreds. The look on Zabini's face was priceless. Smug git, Greg thought, he deserved it. But who knew she held such acid as that? Before he could do anything else, she calmly walked out the library door. He had to ask her today, so he quickly turned and walked after her.

He finally caught up to her at the stairs to the Ravenclaw tower. He looked around and didn't see anyone, so he called out to her, "Chang, wait a moment?"

She turned and looked at him. No malice or joy or anything else on her face. She just stood there watching him approach. She seemed...calm. "Goyle. What can I do for you?"

"I...I…" he cleared this throat, "I need to talk to you."

She waited a beat, then two and then watched the slow spread of red that covered Greg's face. "About what?"

"I need you," he blurted out. She jerked her head backwards as if she'd been slapped.

She dropped her arms to her sides and looked up towards the ceiling in the universal 'someone help me gesture'. "Listen, Greg, I'm flattered and all but…"

"No...not like a date or anything, I need your brain. I mean, I need some *mumble*."

"What was that? I didn't quite catch it."

He took a deep breath, "Look, I know everyone thinks I'm dumb. They tell me so every day, and I'm sick of it. No one expects me to be more than Malfoy's grunt. I want more. I want to be something, someone. I can't do that without some help...studying."

Cho was taken aback a little. "Oh. Ok. Sure, I'd love to help you." She smiled at him.

He exhaled a sigh of relief with a small smile of his own. "Thank you. I keep up with my studies, I mean to turn in assignments but...but it's hard. Draco, he….well, I've been able to keep him from noticing that I actually study."

Cho sat down on the stairs; she was intrigued, "Why does it matter if he knows or not?"

Greg shrugged, "I don't know if he'd care or not, but I don't want to be hassled about it. 'Greg, you're too dumb to do...' or 'Greg you know you suck at...' or if I say something or make a suggestion, they look at me like I committed a crime. I just don't need it."

"I understand." Cho smiled at him. "I have time in the evenings. Do you want to meet in the library?"

"Um...Granger in there then?" Greg asked.

"Usually. Why? Oh. I see."

"Yep, where you find Granger, you find Malfoy." Greg thought for a second. "How about a classroom?"

She smiled and nodded her head in agreement. "What classes do you have? I know one is DADA, since we have that together, and Care of Magical Creatures," she pointed to the textbook in his hand, "I don't know how much help I can be in that one, but we'll figure that out."

"Besides Creatures and DADA there's Muggle Studies, Herbology, Charms and Transfiguration." At her astounded expression, he continued, "but I'm only planning to take four N.E. ."

"Six classes? I didn't think…" she cut herself off with a blush, realizing what she was about to say might be hurtful to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." She was truly embarrassed.

Greg just looked at her with the blank face he used when someone was telling him how dumb he was. It was his camouflage; it allowed him to listen and watch without anyone worrying about him being in the room. It was a trick he learned during the first year at Hogwarts and he'd been able to glean a lot of information over the years.

At least she seems really sorry. That's more than the other sods ever felt. His thoughts were interrupted by Cho clearing her throat.

*cough* "It's just that no one but Hermione is taking six classes this term! I can't imagine studying for six classes and trying for four N.E. on top of that. I'm trying for four myself, but I'm only taking those four classes. Wow! Which classes are you taking the N.E.W.T. in?"

He accepted her apology with a smile, "Creatures, DADA, Herbology and Muggle Studies. I really stink at Charms and Transfiguration, but I want to get better so I'm taking extra classes." He mumbled, "Even though it doesn't seem to be helping."

"All six of those are hard subjects. I see how keeping up with that many would be difficult to do." She looked at him in understanding but not in pity. "Ok, how about tonight? What classes do you have tomorrow? We can work on those."

"Oh, um...Creatures, Charms & Herbology. I've finished most of what needs to be done for tomorrow, but I'd really appreciate you looking them over to make sure." He tried to sound sure, but it came off a little on the weak side.

"I can do that." She smiled at him. "How about after dinner in the room across from DADA?"

"I'll be there. Right after dinner." Greg smiled, and it caught Cho off guard. He had a great smile that caused hers to grow bigger.

Later that night they sat in the classroom and Cho read what Greg had written for an essay in Creatures. He was revising an assignment for Herbology that Cho had already looked over. There were a lot of corrections to make. She had asked to see some of his previous assignments so she could tell what they needed to work on, when something about the writing of the assignments caught her attention. She didn't say anything, but it made her think.

It was a comfortable silence when Greg broke it, "What do you want to do when you leave here?"

Cho stopped marking another sentence structure error before answering, "I'm not sure what I want to do has ever been done." He looked the question at her, so she continued, "I was thinking about a being a teacher but not for Hogwarts or anything like that. I want to teach younger kids; like, before they go off to Hogwarts or Durmstrang or what-not, but wizarding families don't send their kids to school until then. They're taught at home." She kept going, "I don't want to tie myself to a family and only teach one or two kids. I want to teach kids whose families can't afford private tutors. If we put, say, ten or so kids together when they are really young - five or six years old - and teach them together until they go off to Hogwarts...that has to be better for them, right? And the families share the cost of a single teacher. They'd have to pay for books and supplies like here, but still - it has to be better." She looked at Greg waiting for a response.

He didn't respond but instead started to shuffle some parchment around in his bag. Cho thought she was being dismissed for her radical idea and lowered her eyes back to what she was correcting. She was obviously sad that he...what? Thought it was a dumb idea? That most families would never do it? Well, someday she would prove him and everyone else wrong. She really wanted to do this, and nobody was going to stop her. Stupid boy can't even write a decent sentence; what does he know? She was more than a little put out at his reaction to her idea.

Greg continued to look through his bag until he found what he was looking for. Merlin, her eyes sparkle when she's talking. He placed a small roll of parchment in front of her. She looked at it, then at him. "Open it," he told her.

She did and started to read. Despite all the errors in the writing, she was able to get the gist of what the assignment was about. "Greg? Is this…" she looked up at him.

He nodded his head, "For Muggle Studies about a week ago. It's on the Muggle Education System. They do exactly what you were just talking about. It's called Primary School." She turned back to the parchment and kept reading, so he continued to revise the assignment he had to turn in the next day.

She was blushing because of her uncharitable thoughts about the boy sitting next to her. He wasn't stupid, and she knew it. He got the material well enough after all. "Muggles do this? They all do this?"

"Not all, probably. The rich ones probably have private tutors, but the majority of them do. Maybe you could model your idea after what they do." She was just looking at him with a blank face. Greg recognized the look as the one he regularly got from Malfoy. Shite. I thought she was different. I guess not. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe I am too dumb to do anything other than be a flunky. He was strangely bothered by her reaction.

"GREG!" She practically yelled, which made him jump in his seat. "That's a brilliant idea! They've done the groundwork for me. All I have to do is adapt it to us. This is wonderful!"

Greg looked at her with a surprised expression. No one had ever said he was brilliant or an idea he had was brilliant. He felt something that, if he were pressed to say what it was, would be pride - not something he was used to having. "Really?"

"Yes!" She was bouncing in her seat, "Don't you see? My idea has already been proven! All I have to do is get wizarding families to agree to do it. This is a big help, honest." She smiled at him. "Can I keep this?"

His face fell, "I...um…" he mumbled, "I don't think it will be as helpful as you think it might. Look," he pointed to his grade on the assignment, "I got a Troll on it. It's probably some false Muggle information plant or something."

"False Muggle information...What?"

"You know, how someone gives you false or misleading information so you do something wrong. I bet this idea is exactly that since I got a T on it."

She looked at the assignment again and immediately saw why he got a T. "Greg you didn't get a T because the information was wrong. You got a T because the writing sucks."

"Huh?" Great, she calls you brilliant earlier and the best you come back with is 'huh'. Snape was right; you are a dunderhead.

"Greg, in all the assignments I've looked through, including this one," she held up the parchment about Primary School, "and all these others, I can see you get the material but you suck at writing."

"I do?"

She laughed, "Yes, you do." She pointed to the Herbology assigned he was re-writing, "do you see any marks about incorrect information on here?"

He looked closely at it, "No." He paused, "Do you mean I've been getting T, P or D on all my assignments because of writing?"

"Looks that way. Greg who taught you at home...before Hogwarts, I mean."

"My mum when she had time."

"How did she do in school?"

"According to dad, neither of them did well. That's why he works for Malfoy's dad as a guard. He wanted to be a healer but he sucked in school. I don't think they ever got as far as taking N.E. in any class."

She decided to be brutally honest, "Greg you're not dumb, you're uneducated and it seems no one cared." She saw the hurt in his eyes, "I've only read about half a dozen of your assignments and it's always the same: mistakes being marked, but not one teacher has done anything about it. Like work with you on your writing. Writing is a skill like any other. Some have an easy time with it; others have to work really hard at it."

Greg dropped his head into his hands, "I might as well drop out. I'll never do better."

"WHAT!?" She screeched. She was getting really angry, "This...this right here is why I want to start a Primary School! You didn't stand a chance of doing well here because your parents didn't do well. How were you expected to learn from parents who probably barely got by in school? I bet they had the same experiences at home AND in school that you did. And you're absolutely not dropping out! I'm going to help you, and you're going to learn and do better! Starting with this!" She poked the assignment he was working on. "Get to it, mister!" She smiled at him.

A week later they were sitting in the same classroom; faces drawn and sad as they looked over his latest DADA test. He had his head down on his folded arms, and it was obvious that he was depressed. "I should just drop out. This is hopeless!" He mumbled, "I'm hopeless." He got up and picked up his bag. "Thank you, Cho. I appreciate the help. I'm sorry I wasted your time." And he walked away.

"Greg...wait...Greg…" She tried to stop him, but he was already out the door. She slumped in her seat as she looked over the test in her hands, the big "T" in red mocking her. "Damn." She could tell he got the information, but the writing was the problem again. After all his hard work. SHITE! She grabbed her bag and headed for the library. She was lost in thought while looking at the test in her hand; trying to figure out why he just couldn't get it correct! Why?

When she arrived at the library she automatically turned toward her normal spot, but someone had moved one of the tables and she walked directly into it. It shocked her so much that the parchments in her hand went flying toward the person sitting at the table. "Ooof" was the sound that came out of her mouth before "Sorry." She straightened herself up and started to gather the three scattered pages.

The person, a younger Hufflepuff, started to hand her one of the pages when she stopped and looked closer at it. "Huh, I didn't know the wizarding world had Dyslexia. How does that affect your wand work?"

"I'm sorry?" Cho responded.

"I was wondering how Dyslexia affects wand work, is all." At Cho's confused look, she continued, "Well, it affects how you see things; how you write things, like this, right?" She pointed to the parchment, "so I was wondering how learning the wand movements for spells was working?"

Cho looked at the paper. "You know what this all is?" She handed the failed test back to the Hufflepuff.

"It looks like Dyslexia." Her brow was pinched together in confusion.

"I don't know what that is," Cho said. "Can you explain it to me?"

The Huffs eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh, sure. WOW. Ok. Well, first, I'm Maggie. Maggie Henry." She moved some of her stuff off the chair next to her, "Won't you sit down?"

"Cho Chang." And she sat.

"See how these letters are written backwards and in some cases out of order?" Cho nodded her head. "Well, in the Muggle world - I'm Muggle born, by the way - some people have learning disabilities such as Dyslexia. Their brains don't process information the way everyone else's does. My cousin has it; he has extra help in school so, even though it never goes away, he can cope with it."

Cho still looked confused, "You mean, this is common?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it common, but it's not rare either." Maggie looked at Cho then back at the paper. The writing looked distinctly male to her. "This isn't your paper, is it?"

"No. It's a...friend's. I've been trying to help him but...can you tell me more about this lexy thing?" Cho was normally more articulate than this, but she was too surprised.

"Dyslexia affects the brain and how it processes information. I'm afraid I don't know much more than I've already said." Maggie paused for a moment in thought. "I can send a letter home and ask my mum about it, but I'm sure there are books here you could look at." Maggie raised her wand, "Accio Dyslexia books." Nothing. "Accio learning disabilities books."

They waited, and when nothing appeared, Cho turned to Maggie. "Would you please owl your mum and ask her for information? It's really important."

"Sure. Happy to help." Maggie smiled at her.

"Thanks. If I can convince this boy to come talk with you, will you talk with him? Tell him what you told me?"

"Of course. I can't image how hard this world is for someone with Dyslexia. If I can help, I will."

"Thank you so much! If this is what he has, he needs to know there's hope." Cho looked at the test again, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to see if I can find him." She got up without waiting for a response.

Maggie smiled as she watched the Ravenclaw leave the library before pulling out a piece of parchment to write a letter to her mother, mumbling, "this place needs the internet."

Cho was getting worried. She'd looked everywhere she could think of for Greg, all to no avail. She realized that, after only a week, she didn't know him well enough to know where he'd go to deal with emotional things. Finally, she had had enough. She knew Greg didn't want Malfoy to know about the tutoring, but she had to find him, so she walked up to a group of Slytherin students, "Hi. I need to find Greg Goyle. Have any of you seen him?"

They looked at her like she'd lost her mind. Finally one spoke. "No."

Cho's face fell. "Oh, ok." She turned to leave and, in what was becoming a habit, walked squarely into something. This time it was a brick wall of human. She looked up and into the eyes of Blaise Zabini. Oh, how in that moment she wished she had the courage of a Gryffindor! As it turned out, she didn't need it.

"Hey Blaise, she's looking for Greg Goyle," was heard from behind her.

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "He went to his dorm; something about how it was all hopeless so why bother."

"Damn. I need...can you...I need to talk to him. Can you please tell him I'm looking for him?"

Blaise crossed his arms over his chest. "What's in it for me?" He was still stung by her previous acid-tongued rejection.

Cho did her best to glare at him, but it really didn't affect him in the least. "Fine. I'll talk to him tomorrow." She tried to glare at him again but it was still useless, so she stalked away.

While Cho was looking for Greg all over the school, he was already headed to his room. Unfortunately, he had to pass through the Slytherin common room first.

"Greg!" Blaise greeted him. Greg looked at him, and the look made Blaise take a step back. "What's the matter, Mate?"

"I hate school," was his only answer.

"You always hate school. Don't worry about it so much; soon it will be over. Come on, you just had dinner. That always makes you feel better."

Greg glared at Zabini before turning away. "It's hopeless, so why bother?" Then he headed for the stairs and the small privacy of his curtained bed.

He lay down and thought about everything that had happened to him over the last week. He'd had the courage to ask for help and then, after a week of the extra help, he'd realized that he was, in fact, stupid. Everyone was right; he was dumb. These thoughts circled around in his head for the next couple of hours before he finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Cho approached him while he was attempting to eat. She was able to see that he was just pushing the food around on his plate. "Greg?"

"Cho."

Deadpan. Damn, this is worse than I thought. "Can we talk?" He looked at her with those blank eyes. "In private?" He still pushed the food around but didn't say anything. "Please? It's really important. Please."

He sighed but got up and followed as she walked away. She stepped into an empty classroom. After he had sat down, she pulled some parchments from her bag and handed them to him. It was his last test. Before she could say anything, he wadded the parchments into a ball and launched them into the rubbish bin.

"Greg!" She stalked over to the bin, pulled out the test, and started to flatten it out. "Greg, I think I know why you're having trouble."

"Yeah, I'm stupid."

"No, you're not. You might have what Muggles call a learning disability."

"A what?"

"I met this Muggleborn Hufflepuff, and she said that it looked like Dyslexia. It means that your brain doesn't register things the way the rest of ours do."

"I don't understand."

"I don't really understand it all either, but this is what I understand." She went on to explain to the best of her ability what Maggie had told her.

After she finished with what she knew, Greg spoke. "So, my brain doesn't work. Great. If I didn't have proof of that before, I do now. Thanks."

"It's not that your brain doesn't work. It works fine; it just works differently. Maggie said that her cousin was doing just fine with some special help. She's going to owl her mum and ask what her cousin does."

Greg didn't look convinced. "Honestly, I'm not sure I care anymore."

"Please just give it some more time. I think we might be on to something that could really help." Greg just shrugged. Cho decided to try some trickery, "It might help me out, too." He looked at her in confusion, so she continued, "I mean if this is what you have, just think of the help I'll be able to give younger kids at my Primary School. This is exactly the kind of thing that needs to be identified early so no one else would have to go through what you have." He still didn't say anything. "Please?"

Greg sighed, "Fine. I don't think this will help, but ok."

"Brilliant!" Cho's smiled was so infectious, all he could do was smile back at her.

It was lunch when Maggie approached Cho. "Cho!" She was so excited she didn't know what to do first. "I have it! Mum sent me loads of information this morning. I haven't been able to concentrate on anything else! I didn't know where to find you, so I had to wait until now."

Cho smiled, "Maggie, calm down. What's got you all riled up?"

"This!" She dropped a parcel on the table before making her way to sit next to Cho. She turned to the person she basically pushed out of the way. "Thanks!" She turned back to Cho. "Ok, here's the letter from Mum. She said by what I described to her, he doesn't have Dyslexia. He has Dysgraphia."

"Now what's that?"

"Here, this explains it better than I could." She handed her a printout from the internet. "Read; I'm going to eat." Maggie took some food and started.

"What is this?" Cho asked.

"Information on Dysgraphia."

"No. This." She held up the sheaf of papers.

"Oh, it's a printout from the internet on what Dysgraphia is. Mum printed it out and sent it back right away. According to her letter, she stayed up all night researching what it most likely was."

"The what?"

"The internet. Never mind. Will you just read it?" Maggie went back to eating. Cho was a Ravenclaw; of course she was reading it.

"Maggie, this sounds exactly like what Greg has. Oh, he said he would talk with you. He's really down. I don't think he sees any hope."

"Jeez, I can imagine. This place is so backwards sometimes. Wand movements, potion instructions; 'stir clockwise three times, then counterclockwise in a figure-eight motion for seven turns.' I can't imagine the nightmare this place has been for him."

Cho hadn't been listening too closely because she saw Greg leaving the Great Hall. She grabbed Maggie by the robe and pulled her up, "Come on. We need to talk to him now."

"But...lunch!" Maggie grabbed a couple of rolls and her bag and followed Cho.

Cho raced to catch up to Greg. "Greg! Wait, will you?"

Greg stopped and waited until Cho caught up with him. "What are you doing? I thought we were keeping this quiet. I don't need the hassle."

"Stop, ok? I asked Zabini where you were last night so they know we're hanging out. That's all." Maggie arrived. "This is Maggie Henry. She's the one I told you about this morning." Cho smiled at him in a conspiratorial way. "She has information. Let's find a place to talk."

Greg was all for ditching class but was surprised she made the suggestion. "Don't you have class right now? Both of you?"

"Class smash. This is more important," Maggie answered. The hallway had cleared out, so she pulled the older students to a bench in the hallway. She started to talk about what Dysgraphia was. "It affects how your brain registers information. Let's do an experiment. I'm going to show you a wand movement. It's a simple one, but then I want you to do it after me." She moved her wand hand in a simple 'g' shape. Greg watched her, but when he went to do it, it was a 'q' shape. "You did the last movement backwards. Watch." She did the motion again, and he watched then repeated the 'q' motion, not the 'g' motion.

"You did it backwards again. Put your hand on my hand." He hesitated, so she grabbed his hand, "Like this," and proceeded to do the 'g' shape.

"That's not how you did it before," Greg stated.

"Yes it was," Cho answered. "This is what she was talking about. Your brain sees things differently."

Greg was interested but still dejected. "Now what? You can't hold my hand all the time." Maggie chuckled, and Greg glared at her. "What?"

"It's just the image of someone always holding hands...it's funny."

Cho got them back on track. "So Maggie, does your mum make any suggestions on how to help him?"

"Yes, basically what we just did. Start over at the beginning and have him follow the hand motions and trace things so his brain recognizes the shapes. At least, that's what I got from the reading."

Cho and Greg just looked at her. "What do you mean at the beginning?" Greg asked.

"Just what it sounds like. Right back to the alphabet." Greg groaned. "Hey, you have to relearn everything. It's going to be hard, but you can do it. There really is nothing you can't do." Maggie's Hufflepuff was showing like a bright light.

Greg rolled his eyes, but Cho jumped on the Huffle-excitement wagon. "You can do this! We're going to help you, aren't we Maggie?"

"Oh, yeah! You have a chance most people including your parents never got." At his look of inquiry she added, "You have people who know what's wrong and how to help. What do you have to lose?"

Greg thought for a moment. Really, what did he have to lose? "Nothing. When shall we start?"

At that point, Cho stepped in with logic. "I think we need to do this in two ways because they both have to happen at the same time. One: we have to start over; that's obvious. Two: you need to keep up with current work. I think if we split it between the two of us, we can help you out the most. Maggie, you take the beginning and I'll take the current stuff. Can you make copies of all the stuff so I can read it?"

"ummm…." Maggie hesitated. "No. I don't know how to do that one yet."

Greg laughed, "What year are you in?"

"Fifth."

Greg let out a loud bark of a laugh. "Terrific! I'm being taught by a fifth-year. What's next? Send me back to first-year potions?" The silence that followed his comments had him looking at his companions. "I was just surprised is all, honest." He humbled. Do they give girls lessons to get that gorgon look? But again, he wasn't dumb and knew to keep his mouth shut.

Cho's expression softened. "Greg, that's exactly what we're talking about. You need to relearn the alphabet, numbers, wand motions, even how to read. It's complete retraining, according what Maggie has said." She looked to Maggie for confirmation.

Maggie agree with what had to be done. "It's basically re-training your brain." She turned to Cho, "Where and when?"

Greg was shocked. I have to learn the alphabet again?!

Cho and Maggie were thinking hard about where to have lessons, but Greg needed to understand something first. "Um...I'm...You're both going to help me? Why?" The look of puzzlement on his face stopped the girls in their conversation.

Cho smiled at him. "Yes, we're going to help you. Why? Because you asked for help."

Maggie added her two knuts. "I'm a Hufflepuff. If someone needs help, I help. I can't help it. I'm beginning to think it might be genetic." When it became obvious Cho and Greg didn't understand, she rolled her eyes and added, "Fine; I help because I can."

Cho nodded her head. "AND helping you will help me with wizarding primary school. I get to make sure I'll be a good teacher."

"As if you didn't know you're a good teacher," Greg chuckled.

"Thanks!" Cho grinned as she was struck by a lightning bolt of an idea. "I know where we can go. Complete privacy and all the resources we'll need. Come on!"

Even though it was the middle of the day and all three were missing classes, not one of the three cared. They followed Cho as she raced up staircases, turned corners and finally skidded to stop in front of an ugly tapestry. Cho started walking back and forth while muttering to herself.

"Cho?" Maggie asked. Greg just looked at her as though she'd lost her mind.

After her third pass, a door appeared in the wall behind them. Cho pointed to the door they didn't notice since they were watching her.

They looked behind them, "I know there wasn't a door there before." Greg commented.

"In a way." Cho smiled and moved to open the door. She stepped through and stopped in amazement. "wow." She was looking all around as the other two joined her. All three stopped and looked around, open mouthed with surprise.

The room was filled with everything they could possibly need. On one side of the room there were three large work tables with chairs, a large black board complete with chalk and plenty of light. The other side of the room appeared to have all the equipment needed for potions work: cauldrons, burners and stirring rods. The only thing missing were ingredients.

"What is this place?" Maggie asked.

"The Room of Requirement. I remember my grandfather talking about this room when he came here. If it's to be believed, this room can be anything we need it to be," Cho answered with a huge smile. "You just walk back and forth in front of it and ask for what you need. I asked for a place for Greg to relearn everything; this is what it gave us. Shall we get to work?"

"No. I'm not going to let you all fall behind in classes because of me. We all have classes to attend," Greg said with a straight face.

"Greg, it sounds like you want to go to class," Maggie said.

He just smiled and shrug a shoulder. "Come on, you two. We can meet back here after dinner." He ushered them both out of the room feeling like he almost had a chance. What an odd feeling it was; definitely nothing he had ever felt before. If he had to define it, it felt like HOPE.


	2. Chapter 2

All errors are my own. I don't have a beta for this story so if you see something that needs to be fixed please feel free to PM me. Thanks, S.T.

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That night after dinner Greg realized exactly what 'going back to the beginning' meant. He thought he understood before, but this was a bigger task than he'd imagined.

Cho was going through his past assignments and tests to see if there were any commonalities in the errors while Maggie was taking him through the alphabet and numbers. She started by having him write the alphabet on the blackboard. When he was done with that, she wrote the alphabet out of order on the next line down before she had him copy the letters in the order she had written them to see if there was a common error or if the order mattered in the errors at all. So far she discovered 9 letters that were consistently incorrect.

They moved on and the process was repeated with numbers 1 - 50. She did this to find out if the numbers changed when combined with another number.

Cho joined them when they completed the number test. Maggie was studying the board and Greg was massaging his hand. Cho spoke to them both, "I think I see a pattern on your assignments and there is a different pattern for your tests and it differs depending on the class." She noticed Greg was still massaging his hand. "Hand hurt?"

"Yea, it always does when I write this much." He answered.

"I noticed that you hold your quill in an odd position; that's probably why. We can work on that and your penmanship; I think everything's connected."

"I noticed that too. His, your, handwriting gets worse the longer he writes." Maggie paused, "Do you think that's where we should start? Penmanship?"

Cho agreed. "I think some of it has to do with your stress level. I think, no proof here, but I think the more you worry about either taking notes or taking a test, the worse your penmanship gets. So working on penmanship and quill position should help with some of these other issues or at least help clear up the writing so we can see what still needs to be worked on."

Greg looked, and felt, a little defeated. He was trying to be hopeful, but it seemed extremely unlikely that anything would help no matter how optimistic his tutors were.

Maggie could see the defeat manifest itself in the drooped shoulders and lack of eye contact during the conversation. As Cho was looking at the board to make more comparisons to what she had already figured out, Maggie whispered to Greg, "Stiff upper lip, man. You can do this. It's not as daunting as it seems."

Greg whispered back, "we've only just gotten started though."

"Exactly, it's only the beginning. The beginning of everything good is difficult. If it weren't difficult, it wouldn't be any good."

Cho heard every word, but recognized that Maggie had a way of making people feel better when needed and Cho wasn't about to interfere with her new friend's innate skill.

Greg looked at the younger witch, confused. He continued in a regular voice, "I appreciate everything you both are willing to do to help me, I do, but penmanship, letters, numbers, runes, wand motions, _and_ who knows what else is going to come up. Do you really think we can make any kind of a difference in 7 months?"

Cho answered him, "Yes, we do. Since both of us are helping you, I think we can make a difference. Will you graduate at the top of the class? No. But you will do better than Trolls or Dreadfuls or even Poors if we keep at it. According to what I've read, it should always be the same things that trip you up. So we just need to figure out what those are and work on those." She paused and reached out to squeeze his arm."Yes, it's going to take time to learn the alphabet and numbers and everything else all over again, but once you have the alphabet down the words will come pretty quickly and so will the rest."

"But, you'll get behind in your own work." Greg hated the thought of anyone suffering because of his problem.

"No, we won't. I have a plan." Cho smiled at them.

"Care to share?" Greg prompted when she didn't continue.

"Once you get the basics, you won't need us to hover over you. You can work on your stuff and we'll be here to help but not hover. You'll pretty much be on your own just like anybody else who asked for help." She understood that needing so much help was grating for him. It would be for anyone. So, she pushed the one issue that would keep him going: his own independence. "The only problem I see is that we probably aren't going to be able to keep the studying together quiet. We will need every moment we can grab to work. Before and after meals, break times, weekends. Every moment."

Greg considered this for a few moments and then nodded. "I can deal with it if you can. If Malfoy or Zabini or anyone says anything, I'll just do what they're worried I'd do anyway...punch them in the face."

Both girls raised objections but Greg just smiled. Finally he put his hands up, surrendering. "Ok, so I won't punch them, but they don't need to know that now do they?" Both girls laughed at his cheeky response and it got everyone back on track.

As they were working on his penmanship Maggie realized he was frequently using both capital letters and lower-case letters within the same word as well as a mix of cursive and printing. A quick chat had them deciding that printed capital letters were easier for him so they concentrated on those first.

As the night moved on, Greg was shocked at how badly he was affected by this brain thing and amazed at Maggie. Her patience with him was never ending. She was in her element as a teacher and cheering squad. She was relentless in her determination. Greg was sure that anyone else would have gotten frustrated and quit on him by now especially since she wasn't getting anything in return for all her hard work. That was the moment he realized she and Cho were his friends. Who else but friends would go through all this for him? That was also the moment he decided he was not going to let them or himself down. He would do whatever it took no matter how long it took to succeed. But he also knew it was time to call it a night when he saw Maggie yawn again. He called an end to the lesson expecting to have to argue. Fortunately both girls were ready to head to the dorms as well. They packed up their bags and Greg escorted first Maggie and then Cho to their respective dormitories.

The next morning was the first time Greg would be mostly on his own with this new way of looking at things. They hadn't worked out all the bugs yet but he knew he stood a better chance. It felt good until the first class, Charms, actually happened. It was a lecture class and within the first several minutes he knew he was in trouble. His hand had started to cramp again and his notes were unreadable. He stopped trying to take notes and just listened. He occasionally made a drawing of something on the page but the actual note taking had ended. He realized that because everybody didn't expect anything of him, he could sit back in class and make drawn notes of wand motions and no one would be bothered by it. No one would be asking to borrow his notes after all. When class ended he headed to DADA. He pushed past the other students just like he normally did except this time, he wasn't doing it to get away from a class but to be get to a class. He wanted to get to Defence and talk to Cho. He arrived outside the classroom and scouted around until he found her. They spotted each other at the same time.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"Judge for yourself." He handed her his notes and then watched her face fall. "My hand started cramping but I kept at it but even I can't read those notes." He pointed to what appeared to be doodles on the page, "But look! I took down the wand motions."

"That's what these are?" He nodded. "Greg this is brilliant!"

He was shocked but happy, "You mean I got them right?! Yes!"

"Oh, Greg. I'm sorry. No. If the spells are what you have listed at the top, then no. These motions are mostly rubbish." If she didn't know better, she would have said he was near tears. "What's brill is that now we have a general understanding of where the trouble seems to be."

Before she could explain further, the doors opened and the class filed into the room. Greg was about to go sit with his friends as usual but Cho pulled him down to a seat in the back.

"What?" He started to ask as he pointed to his normal seat.

"We are going to work together every class we have together. We are going to learn them _together_." She stated to make sure he understood she wasn't leaving him alone. She pulled out her parchment and quill and prepared to take notes.

Greg didn't want her to think he was just using her and decided to use this lecture to practice his hand position and note taking. He could rely on her notes to double check his own. It wasn't 10 minutes later when the sound of yet another quill breaking could be heard followed by a growl of frustration. Though Greg tried to keep both sounds quiet, they were heard by Cho. She glanced at his hand as he started to write again and noticed the problem. Before she could say anything to him, the lecture part of class was over. The class broke up into partners for practice. This lesson involved non-verbal defensive shield charms. Because it was non-verbal the wand motions had to be precise as had been described in the lecture. Using the techniques they had practiced in the Room of Requirement the night before, he placed his hand on Cho's and let her guide him through the motions several times. Then he did it on his own. They continued to practice in this manner until the teacher, yet another new one for this year and mostly competent, came to check on their work.

First the teacher tested Cho. "Since you seem to think you are so good that you don't need practice and can teach the lesson, Ms. Chang, let us start with you." He shot a harmless stinging hex at her but she had her shield up and the hex dissolved against it. The teacher pursed his lips and grunted in approval. Next he turned his attention to Greg. "Mr. Goyle." and shot the same hex at Greg.

Greg was able to do the wand motions almost perfectly. _Almost_ meaning that there was a slight tingly feeling in his wand hand as part of the hex came through the shield. Again the teacher just grunted and moved to the next group to test them.

Cho was nearly beside herself in her excitement, "Greg! You did it!" She whispered with a huge smile on her face.

"Thanks but you got in trouble for it."

"Posh! I practiced and it worked for me. But don't you get it? YOU DID IT!"

"I did, didn't I?" Having finally realized what had happened, he was nearly as excited as his friend. "We did it!"

They were smiling and still working on the wand motion that Greg missed when the teacher interrupted them, "Alright, class. I know it's early but I'm going to let you go after a couple of reminders. 1) Your essay on non-verbal spells is due next class. 2) The class after that, you will have a practical exam on non-verbal spells. 3) I'm really pleased with your work and how you all are coming along with these spells. They aren't easy. Keep practicing. Class dismissed."

They packed up their bags and joined the queue that was filing out of the class. "I'm glad he let us out early. I need to run back to my dorm and get some more quills. Can you believe I broke 3 this class?"

"I saw. I have an idea why and I think a way to help. We'll work on it tonight. For now, just make sure you have what you are working on written down so we can go over it. Your notes from Charms class are...difficult to say the least."

They chuckled at the obvious kindness of her statement before splitting off for their next classes.

After last class and before dinner Maggie and Greg were waiting for Cho in the RoR. Maggie would not allow them to be idle however. Greg was practicing his letters and Maggie was doing her own homework.

Fifteen minutes later Cho arrived with what looked like a dozen eggs in a pan. "Hi. Sorry I'm late. I had to stop by the kitchen and get these." She held up an egg.

"Eggs. Why do we need eggs?" Greg asked. Maggie was inquiringly silent.

"Because you keep breaking quills. Your grip is too strong which is probably also why your hand cramped so fast today. You need to lighten up your grip."

"And eggs will help me how?"

"These will break and spread icky gross stuff all over you. You will learn to lighten up or you will have icky gross stuff all over your hand."

"Cho you can't be serious!" Maggie chimed in.

"Actually….I'm not." She smiled. "These are actually hard boiled. That way when you break them it won't make a mess but you can start to feel when your grip is getting to hard for a quill. After you get a feel for it and stop breaking them, then you will use soft boiled eggs and work to raw eggs."

"How am I supposed to practice writing with an egg?"

She took his quill away and replaced it with an egg. "Pointy end, ink pot, go." She left him to continuing to work on his letters.

He looked at the egg and then at his paper and then back at the egg. "Cho, you can't…"

"Yes I can. Use it. I bet you can't go 5 minutes without them breaking." She decided a challenge might work best on him this time.

He glared at her but didn't comment. He started to try and write with the egg. "This is stupid. I can't write with an egg." he was mumbling to himself when _**CRACK!**_ He put that egg aside and grabbed another. A few minutes later and it was set next to the first egg. Within 20 minutes he was angry and frustrated.

Cho was beginning to worry that maybe this wasn't her best idea. She could hear him talking to himself but couldn't tell what he was saying. She leaned closer to hear.

"You can do this, you big dumb oaf. Just relax your hand. It's an egg. Hold it like one." He was trying and getting very frustrated.

It was at that point Maggie decided enough was enough. "Alright, stop. You aren't ready for an egg yet, obviously, so let's try something else." She moved over to her bag and pulled out a long thin cylinder. "Welcome to the 20th Century, muggle style." She held up a ball point pen and clicked it open. "This my dear friends is called a pen. It is made of plastic and ink." She looked up and smiled at her friends who were looking at her with blank faces. *sigh* "That means it won't break very easily."

Greg took the pen and tested it. He shrugged and got back to work happily discovering the pen was much more durable. After a time though he realized it didn't help with the cramping in his hand. He was able to practice writing and relaxing his hand without worrying about breaking anything. _It will get better,_ he told himself, _it has too._

After he got used to a few minutes Maggie interrupted again. "I sent a letter to my mom about your penmanship and hand position. She suggested somethings I think we need to try." She had their attention as she turned to retrieve a new spiral notebook out of her bag. She had written " **Greg Goyle** " on it. She handed it over. "One of the things she mentioned was to use lined paper so start to use this. Also that you need to sit up straighter. Take your tie off, you too Cho." She also removed her tie and collected the other two tying all three together. She pushed him back in his chair and tied his torso to the back of the chair using the ties. "There, that should help." She waited a moment and when no one moved, "go on try it."

Greg tried to get his hand into his usual writing position but it wouldn't bend correctly with his body so upright. "I can't."

"That's the next thing she mentioned. You need a straight wrist and pivot your arm from your elbow rather than your shoulder while pulling to make the letters instead of pushing to make them."

The blank looks continued until she showed them the difference between what he had been doing and what he now needed to do. With a lot of hard work that night including missing dinner in the Great Hall, the improvement in his penmanship was small but obvious.

Time continued and they continued along this line of work every chance they got. Their studying together was noticed but no one said anything directly to them about it. Slowly Greg started to notice a difference. Using Maggie's pen-thing his writing got more clear. His hand still cramped but not as quickly and his assignments came back with fewer red marks.

He realized that all the hard work really was paying off when he got his first 'Dreadful' on a written assignment for Muggle Studies. He just sat there after the class had been released. "Is there a problem Mr. Goyle?"

"Huh? Oh, no Professor. It's just...I got a 'Dreadful'."

"Yes. It's the grade that was warranted. Is there a problem?"

He didn't answer the professor but left the classroom. Habit propelled his feet toward the Great Hall for lunch. He walked the entire time without looking away from the assignment in his hand. He finally looked up when he entered the hall and scouted for Cho or Maggie. He finally spotted Maggie sitting at her table. He noticed her sitting at the end of the table alone. He walked over to her and sat down in front of her.

Maggie looked up and smiled at him. He slid his assignment into her line of vision. She looked at it and the smile she gave him was amazing. "GREG! This is great! I'm so happy for you!"

"Well, let's not get carried away. It's only a 'Dreadful'. It's not that great."

"I disagree. Look at this! I can read it, the sentences are in good order and the spelling is much better. This is great!" At that moment she saw Cho walk in. "CHO! Come here! You've gotta see this." Greg who was already starting to blush under the praise turned a slightly brighter shade of red at Maggie's yelled summons.

Cho joined them and sat down. Maggie handed her Greg's assignment. Cho looked over the assignment and was smiling as big as the others. Without thinking she threw her arms around his neck for only a moment before she pulled back and was bouncing in her seat. "I am so proud of you! This has to feel good. Have you ever gotten a 'Dreadful' before?"

At this point Greg could feel his face heat under the red color. No one had ever said they were proud of him. "I've gotten higher than 'Dreadful' before but those were on practicals….in Herbology."

"But this was…"

Greg cut her off, "on a written assignment. No. Only ever 'Troll'. My first not 'Troll' on a written assignment. Thank you both."

Maggie tried to deflect the praise, "It was all you. You did the work."

"I couldn't have done it without both of you. You for figuring out what the problem was and Cho over here for figuring out how to help me and the both of you for sticking with me."

"What are friends for if not for this so, glad to help but don't forget we are getting something out of this as well." Greg looked a question at her so she continued, "Cho is discovering she is a great teacher and she gets to use you as a test subject to prove her point that this place needs a primary school."

"You never told us what you're getting out of this, Maggie."

Maggie looked at the two people across from her and answered simply, "better grades. Helping you and listening to you two work on your assignments has helped me get better grades. And I get to help prove this school needs to get into the 20th Century. Now, I think we need to celebrate this achievement." She handed a glass of pumpkin juice to Cho and Greg. "Raise your glasses to the three of us. Each getting what we want and what we need."

The next day in DADA they were going to get back the essays for non-verbal spells and had a practical test on them. One by one the students were tested in front of the entire class on their non-verbal offensive and defensive spells. The professor graded them right on the spot. The lowest grade was 'Acceptable' and more than one student received that grade. Greg was one of those students. He got a couple of the wand motions wrong but nothing dangerous came through his shields and his offensive spell wasn't as strong as it could have been but Cho was ridiculously happy.

When the essays were returned he was even more shocked. 'Poor' was written at the top but there was a note written on the back of the essay. "Mr. Goyle. I can see the improvement in your work. If it were possible I would have given you a 'Poor plus'. I see you understand the material but your writing MUST improve."


	3. Chapter 3

Here is the next chapter. It is un-betaed so all errors are mine. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know. Thanks.

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Four months of hard work on the teenagers' parts proved that their plan was working. Greg had been steadily getting better grades but still hadn't achieved an Acceptable on a written assignment.

His wand work had major improvement especially in the class he shared with Cho but all the classes practical wand work was already in the Acceptable range. They had developed a type of key for the wand work and as such he was able to learn the easier spells of the first through third years. He had a little more trouble with fourth and fifth years but those issues were eventually figured out and added to the 'key'. This, in turn, helped him learn the more complicated spells because he recognized the motions that gave him the most trouble.

It was at this time, with only 3 months of school left, that Greg started to get really nervous. N.E.W.T.s were only 10 weeks away. The tests were hard enough but he still had yet to achieve an Acceptable on a written assignment. He was worried that if he couldn't get at least one Acceptable he wouldn't be able to survive the actual tests.

It was about this time that things took a turn for the not-best. The DADA teacher, Professor Hawk-Monitor, was in the staff room grading the latest test after classes ended for the day, "Huh." He vocalized. "That's odd."

"What is it?" Babbling asked him.

"Well," he paused as he looked the test over again, "this test is odd. Greg Goyle has been doing Troll and Dreadful work with the occasional Poor thrown in but this test...it's Acceptable. Well, I suppose it's actually an exceeds expectations since I wasn't expecting anything other than a Poor...but still 'Acceptable' it is."

Professor McGonagall pointed out, "He's been studying very hard with Ms. Chang and a fifth year Hufflepuff named Maggie Henry. Maybe it's finally working."

The Muggle Studies professor, Professor Johnson, entered the conversation, "His work has been improving in my class as well." He paused for a moment, "Now that you mention it I think I saw them passing notes before class earlier this week...right before a test. He, compared to his normal work, he did really well on that test too." He paused, "You think they were...no I can't see that...cheating?" He asked the other professors not believing what he was saying. "He's worked really hard, I can't believe it."

"Is Chang even taking Muggle Studies?" Professor Babbling asked.

"No, she's not. So it can't be cheating." Professor Johnson replied.

Professor Hawk-Monitor rifled through his other tests until he found Cho Chang's test. He graded it and then compared they two tests. Many of the answers were similar. "Well, the tests are similar but not exact."

He handed the tests to McGonagall who held out her hand for them. Her lips thinned as she compared them for herself. "These are a little too similar."

"Of course they are going to be similar. They have been studying the same material and they have been doing it together. What do you expect? Different information?" Professor Babbling asked clearly annoyed at the automatic assumption of guilt.

There was a pause as the other professors considered those words. "So, what do we do?" asked Professor Johnson.

McGonagall sighed, "I think we're going to have to question these two at least and maybe even Ms. Henry. If they did cheat it will mean automatic suspension possibly even expulsion."

A plan was organized without Professor Babbling as she wanted nothing to do it. Professor McGonagall was going to stay out of it until Professors Johnson and Hawk-Monitor questioned Mr. Goyle and Ms. Chang respectively and simultaneously after classes ended the next day.

The professors decided to limit the chance of the students coming up with a story by not letting them know what was happening until the last class. At the last class of the day, remedial Charms for Greg and Advanced Transfiguration for Cho, both teens received a note saying to meet a professor. Cho was to meet with Professor Hawk-Monitor and Greg was to meet with Professor Johnson.

That evening the Muggle Studies professor was looking at a nervous Greg Goyle. "Good evening, Mr. Goyle."

Greg didn't say anything in response but nodded his head to his professor. His experience with being called to a professor's office has never been good.

As Professor Johnson watched his student fidget and sweat, a sinking feeling developed in his gut but he decided to start on a good foot. "Mr. Goyle, first I wanted to say that I have seen a marked improvement in your school work lately. There are still issues but you have made major positive strides. Which is what brings us here tonight. There have been some...questions...as to why your work has suddenly improved so much. Honestly, there are some that think you have been cheating."

Of all the things Greg expected to be said to him, this wasn't even close. "Cheating? I have NOT been cheating."

"Can you give a reason for your sudden improved work?"

"I've been studying really hard." The last thing Greg wanted was to tell a professor that his brain didn't work like anyone else's. He wasn't sure he could explain it anyway.

"Yes, I know with a Ms. Chang and Ms. Henry. I have to tell you, Greg, that unless you can give me a good reason for this improvement, I will have to bring this to the attention of Professor McGonagall. If she thinks it's warranted she may suspend the three of you until an investigation is concluded. If she finds evidence of cheating, the three of you may be expelled."

As Greg was having this conversation with the Muggle Studies professor, Cho was having a conversation of her own.

Without preamble the DADA professor jumped right into why she was here, "Ms. Chang, I have to tell you that you and Mr. Goyle are suspected of cheating."

"We have NOT been cheating. I would never cheat! And neither would Greg." Cho stated emphatically.

"Can you tell me why your last test and Mr. Goyle's last test are so similar?" Professor Hawk-Monitor handed her both tests.

Cho took the tests and compared them. "We study together, of course, they would similar." Echoing Professor Babbling's words.

"I understand that and I have taken that into account. But the wording is almost exactly the same. Can you give me any other reason why Mr. Goyle's work has improved so much so quickly?"

"Professor, I can not and will not except to say that Greg and I have been studying together along with another person…"

"Yes. Ms. Henry. She is next to be questioned. What will she tell me, Ms. Chang?"

"She will tell you exactly what I am, Professor. We did NOT cheat and I will not break Greg's confidence as to how he has improved so much." Cho's stubborn streak reared its head. She crossed her arms and sat staring at the professor with what could only be called a mulish expression on her face.

"Ms. Chang, I must advise reconsidering your attitude and stance. If you can't give me a satisfactory answer, I have to inform Professor McGonagall. It will be up to her to decide the next step. She may decide that further investigation is needed and you three will be suspended during that investigation. If evidence of cheating surfaces you all may be expelled."

Cho was shocked and angry. "We did NOT cheat! Just because someone does better than anyone ever expected, it had to be cheating. This place…unbelievable." She took a breath, "You go ahead and do your investigation if you want. Nothing will surface because we did not cheat." She stood up, "Thank you for your time professor." She started to walk out of the room without waiting to be dismissed. She made it to the door before realizing what she was doing. She turned to Professor Hawk-Monitor, "Enjoy your evening, Professor." She pulled the door open and walked out still too angry to be overly polite.

Greg, on the other hand, was gaping at Professor Johnson, shocked. Of course just because he was doing better, he had to have cheated. "No one cheated."

"I want to believe you, Mr. Goyle, but I need proof. What proof can you give me that there hasn't been any cheating?"

"Why should I bother, Professor? No matter what I say, you won't believe me. Go ahead, suspend me, expel me but leave Cho and Maggie alone. They have done nothing but try to help me. There was no cheating on their parts."

"On 'their parts'? Are you saying you cheated but they didn't know about it?"

"NO ONE CHEATED!" Greg nearly shouted. Suddenly he seemed to give up, "but since you don't believe or trust me, why should I try to convince you?" Greg stood up, "Do what you need to do. I'll...You know what? Do whatever you want to. I hate school anyway." He walked out of the door only stopping long enough to yank open the door and slam it shut behind him.

Cho got out her meeting in a rage. How dare they? Cheating? Just because someone does better in school?! Absurd! She stopped her furious trek and took a couple of deep breaths. She decided she needed to find Greg. He needed to know about this...wait a bloody second, if she had a meeting then he probably did as well. Buggering shite! She needed to find him now. She headed to the Great Hall hoping to catch him. She didn't find him but spotted Malfoy and Granger still lingering over their dinner.

"Hi, Cho." Hermione said with a smile until she saw her friend's distraught face. "What's wrong?"

"Malfoy, have you seen Greg? I need to talk with him," Cho asked.

"No, he didn't make it to dinner. I heard he had a meeting with Professor Johnson after classes today."

"Shite. Ok. If you see him, let him know I'm looking for him, will you?"

"Sure," Draco said but Hermione wasn't satisfied with that.

"Cho? What's going on?" Hermione asked and pulled Cho towards the bench they were sitting on.

Cho sank onto a bench debating how much and what to tell them. Finally, "You know I've been helping Greg with his studies, right?" She didn't mention Maggie because she didn't know if it would bother Greg to have Malfoy know he was getting help from a fifth year.

They agreed that they knew about the studying, "Yea and another person, right? A Hufflepuff I think." Hermione said.

"Yea," she continued with her story, "but because his grades are actually getting better, they have accused us of cheating! Which we absolutely didn't do!" Her voice was getting a little loud in her agitation.

"Ok Chang, relax. I'll go see if I can find him. I'll see what's going on. I'll let him know that you are looking for him."

"Thanks, Malfoy, I appreciate it," Cho said to him as he left the witches talking on the bench.

***********************  
Greg didn't stop his charge through the school until he reached the Slytherin common room. He was about to go up to his room, bypassing all his friends hanging out on the sofas and chairs when Theo Nott came down the stairs, "Greg! How was the meeting?"

Greg growled at him and tried to push past. Theo glanced at the others and stepped in front of Greg. "Mate, what's going on? You had a meeting with a prof, yea?"

"It was the usual rubbish about my grades. I'm done with this school. Now, if you will move, I want to go upstairs." He physically pushed Theo to the side and started up the stairs, again.

Blaise, Vince, and Tracey all jumped up and stopped him. "Come on Greg," Tracey said, "tell us what's really going on. What do you mean, you are done with this school?"

"Just what it means, I'm done. Being expelled...probably."

"Your grades that bad?" Vince asked as he and the others pulled Greg over to the sofas.

Tracey put her hands on his shoulders and pushed as hard as she could to get him to sit. He stood and watched the small witch try to force him to sit. When forcing him to sit didn't work, she turned her face up to him, looked him in the eyes and turned on her 'gorgon stare'. Which at least made him drop his defiant stance. It was when she turned on the puppy dog eyes that he gave in and sat down. She curled up next to him as the others found seats around him. "Speak," said Tracey.

Greg wasn't sure how much to tell them. He looked down at his hands for a few moments before just plowing on. "I've been studying with Cho Chang and.." he hesitated a moment before admitting, "a Hufflepuff named Maggie Henry. You know this right?" He said looking at the witch. It seemed easier to just talk to her and pretend the lads weren't there. Tracey nodded her head. "Well, my grades have been improving."

"Not enough, though huh, mate?" Vince interrupted.

Tracey glared at Vince and put her finger to her mouth to tell him to shut it. "That's good though, right Greg. Better marks."

"Except they think I've been cheating to get those better grades. Since I've gone this long without decent grades how else would I get better grades if not cheating."

"That's ridiculous!" Tracey stated. "You'd never cheat. It's just not you."

"Tell _them_ that 'cause they aren't listening to me! I was told I'll be suspended while they investigate and if they find cheating I'll be expelled. I'm probably the only person in the history of the school to be expelled for actually learning and doing better in school. Just my luck."

"Oh Greg, I'm so sorry," Tracey said putting her hand on his shoulder in comfort and support.

"That's not all is it Greg? If it was just you, you wouldn't be this angry or resigned. It's also not your style," Draco said from the door where he was leaning and listening surprising everyone with his presence.

Greg scowled at him and shook his head but didn't elaborate as he looked back at the table in front of him.

Tracey looked at Greg. "What is it?"

Draco waited for a beat and when Greg still hadn't spoken, spoke to him. "Chang found me and Hermione in the Great Hall." Greg's head snapped up to glare at Draco. "Don't look me in that tone of eyes. She came to me. She had what sounds like a similar meeting. They are threatening to suspend her and your other friend, Maggie, as well aren't they?"

"Yea. They don't deserve that. They were only helping me so I told Professor Johnson that they didn't cheat."

"They didn't cheat. You left Johnson thinking that you did though, didn't you? You're being self-sacrificing." Theo said. "How Hufflepuff-ly dramatic of you."

Theo didn't mean it in a negative or mean way but Greg was already on edge and that is exactly how he took it. Greg was on his feet in a second and grabbed Theo's collar hauling him off the chair, "You listen to me. Maggie has been a great friend. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have learned why I have such trouble in school and gotten the help I needed. Hell, she and Cho gave me the help I needed. There is nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff. They are…" he paused when he realized he took the comment incorrectly and let Theo go and put his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, Theo."

Theo nodded his head in acceptance and watched as Greg left the common room for his dorm as his friends looked around at each other in confusion and worry.

The next morning all three teens were called to Professor McGonagall's office for a conference.

The three teens sat in the chairs provided in front of the Deputy Headmistress' desk. They knew why they were there and all three were nervous even though they tried to hide it. Even though none of them had done anything wrong, being accused of wrongdoing was nerve-wracking.

Professor McGonagall surveyed the kids and took note of their nervousness. She hoped that wasn't an inadvertent admission of guilt. "So…" she started, "I have received the recommendations from your teachers. They said you refused to give them a reason for Mr. Goyle's marked improvement. Is this still your stand?"

Cho was the first to speak up. "Yes, Professor. Greg has worked really hard for his grades and no one cheated."

A stern look crossed McGonagall's face as she held up a stack of papers, "I have copies of your tests and assignments. I have to say that after studying them there is a good reason for the teachers to be suspicious."

Cho decided to act as the spokesman for the group. "Professor, we did NOT cheat and there is no evidence of cheating. What there is evidence of is hard work on all our parts. And no Professor, I won't tell you why we worked so hard because it isn't my story to tell." Cho reached over and took hold of the other two teens hands to show their solidarity. "Quite frankly, Professor, I'm surprised this is happening. I think it is unconscionable that you are doing this to the three of us."

Greg decided he wasn't about to let these two wonderful friends get in trouble for him, "Stop, Cho. Just...it's not worth it." Cho tried to interrupt him but he wouldn't let her, "No. I'm so tired of fighting for every little thing. Enough is enough. I'm just done with this. I get ignored for being stupid or I get in trouble for finally doing well. I just...Professor, do whatever you have to do but these two DID NOT cheat to help me."

"Are you saying you cheated Mr. Goyle?"

"Yes, I did…" He was cut off by Maggie.

"Oh shut up Greg! You didn't cheat, I didn't cheat and Cho didn't cheat. You might be ready to let them railroad you but I'm not."

Greg looked surprised at her outburst. "What…?"

"Don't look so surprised! I'm a Hufflepuff which means I'm a badger. You ever see a badger defend itself? We get mean. So don't make me any angrier than I already am or I will slap you until you see stars! YOU WILL NOT GIVE UP. We didn't work this hard for this long for you to drop it all now." She turned to the professor, "what can we do to end this now?"

The professor looked shocked at the outburst. "Well, you have to prove no one cheated."

"Guilty until proven innocent, huh, Professor?" She didn't miss McGonagall's shocked face at the accusation as Maggie turned to Greg and Cho, "We are going to have to explain what we have been doing and more importantly why." She searched their faces and saw the question in their eyes. "If it comes out now, maybe others will benefit from the knowledge. Isn't that one of the reasons we're doing this? So that others can get the help they need?" The acceptance in their eyes as all she needed.

She nodded her head at her friends and turned back to Professor McGonagall. "We can prove we didn't cheat but due to the nature of this whole situation and the guilty until proven innocent aspect, I want my mom here before we go any farther. I think Greg's and Cho's parents should be here as well."

McGonagall's face was pinched tighter than any of the teens had ever seen. "I don't think that is necessary, Ms. Henry."

Maggie sighed, "Professor, you haven't believed us even once in this whole thing. If I understand correctly, you would have to inform our parents if you decided to suspend us and for sure if you tried to expel us. I think we should bring them in now instead."

"It will take some time to arrange especially as your mother is a muggle but agreed. I will put everything on hold for three days until your parents are all here. Then if you can not prove that there was no cheating on anyone's part, you will be expelled. Do you understand this?"

"Yes Professor, that's fine." Maggie agreed for the group. Maggie knew she should have thanked the professor for agreeing but she was still angry at the entire situation and decided to be a little rude.

The children were sent off to their next classes but decided to stop and chat for a bit first. "Maggie...this is risky." Cho's nerves were shattered.

"No, it's not." Maggie argued, "they were trying to get us to confess to something we didn't do. My mom knows we haven't cheated. I've been giving her updates on everything we have been doing and how it's been working. I'll owl her and ask her to bring them. I have all her responses as well. It shows a timeline of progress which in turn shows we didn't cheat." Maggie stopped to take a breath, "And Greg, your parents should be here for obvious reasons and Cho, your's because you deserve to have them here. Let's face it...we need people on our side."

"Mags, you sound like a solicitor," Greg observed.

Maggie beamed, "Thanks! My Mom is a solicitor and she doesn't take injustice well. If they still decide to suspend or expel us she is going to flip and they won't know what hit them."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: All errors are my own and I don't make any money from writing this.**_

The students went down to the Great Hall and were immediately swamped by Ravenclaw and Slytherin friends wanting to know what was happening. Draco started the questions with a simple one, "Were you expelled?"

Greg answered this one, "No. We weren't but…" he looked around at all the people who had gathered. There were friends but also gossips who wanted to be 'in the know' about anything exciting happening at Hogwarts. The teens decided to keep as much as possible a secret until the outcome of the meeting was finalized so he didn't want to say anything in front of everyone. "I don't really want to talk here but I will say that there's to be a meeting with some of the Professors and our parents before they decide anything."

Their friends took the hint and let the subject drop. It left the gossips frustrated that they still didn't know what the meeting was about.

It would take three days before everyone was assembled for 'the inquisition' as the teens were calling it and they took advantage of those days. They discussed what and how to tell the adults what they have been doing.

They would have loved it if the adults would have just trusted and believed in them but since it had gone this far they knew they would have to go all the way and explain everything. The question really was how to explain it and who would do the explaining. They decided to tell the story from the beginning, each telling their own part.

The night before everyone was scheduled to arrive Greg and Cho were sitting in the Slytherin common room talking with Hermione, Draco, Tracey, and Theo about what might happen tomorrow. Hermione spoke up, "I can't believe they're going through with this. You have been working so hard, it's completely unfair. If the worst happens, I'm starting a petition or something to get you reinstated."

Greg was getting antsy and it came out in his words, "Pssh! Unfair? This whole place is designed to be unfair." The questioning looks had him continuing, "Granger, you answer a question and get ten points. TEN! I answered a question last week in Muggle Studies and got three points. Why was my answer worth fewer points than yours? Wouldn't it make sense to give more points to people who aren't guaranteed to know the answers? Don't give them points for trying because that's just hippogriff shite. But if they are willing to speak up even if they aren't sure they know the correct answer and DO have the correct answer...after all isn't that the point of awarding points? To encourage studying and achievement? Why are their answers less worthy of points than someone who knows all the answers? I'm not saying your answer wasn't worth ten points but my answer was worth more than three. So, where's the fairness in that? This place is nothing but unfair." He looked Granger straight in the eyes, "so a good question is: when it comes to fair what's your basis of comparison? Thank you for the offer but I don't need your help. We aren't friends. Until you started dating Malfoy you never spoke one word to me. I was too stupid for you to talk to. So I don't need your help now." He knew his words had stung her and made Malfoy angry on her behalf so he lessened the sting, "I do appreciate your offer of help but this is something I have to face on my own. Rather I have to face it with Cho and Maggie." He smiled at Cho, "I think I'm good. In fact, I think it's time to walk Cho back to her dorm and head off to bed myself."

Cho, smiling, bid her friends good night and allowed Greg to escort her out. As the door closed, Greg enjoyed the stunned silence he had left behind. Stupid...right…*smirk* As they reached the stairs that led out of the dungeons Cho was still smiling. "Greg, no matter what happens tomorrow, I want you to know that I'm proud of what we have done, what you have accomplished and to be your friend."

Greg was surprised at the admission. No one had said anything like that to him in years but Cho wasn't done. "Maggie and I talked and no matter what happens we plan to keep being your friends and if you want, we will continue to work with you for as long as you want." Cho chuckled, "actually, I'd be surprised if Maggie didn't show up on your doorstep and order you to keep working."

Greg barked a laugh, "Yeah, that's Mags alright." They had reached the Ravenclaw tower and Cho had answered the entry question. She stood in the doorway and turned to say goodnight but Greg had an admission he wanted her to know, "Goodnight, Cho. Thanks...for everything. You are a great teacher. Don't ever let anyone tell you different."

Cho smiled at him, "Greg, it's been a pleasure. Thank you, Goodnight," and she closed the door.

The next day was meeting day and the whole school was abuzz with gossip. The rest of the student body knew something was happening but since only a select few knew about the cheating accusation, speculation was thick on the ground. Everything from a sex scandal involving the three teens to them studying and using Dark Arts on other students was said to be "The Truth". Greg just rolled his eyes at what he heard. He had enough to think about already.

The very large number of people arriving for the meeting didn't lessen the rumors but added to them. Not only were Mr. & Mrs. Goyle, Mr. & Mrs. Chang and Ms. Henry attending the meeting but several Professors were to attend as well. Professors Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout were going to be there because they were the heads of each of the houses. Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore were already attending as were Professors Johnson and Hawk-Monitor because they were the accusing professors. Professor Babbling insisted on being there because, as she put it, "I was the only one who believed in the children in the first place". Additionally, Mr. Lucius Malfoy was asked to attend as a representative of the Board of Governors.

The meeting was to be held in an unused classroom that has been rearranged. It now appeared similar to the Wizengamot chambers with three chairs in the center for the teens and everyone else facing them in a U shape.

The meeting was scheduled to begin in the morning. Normally it wouldn't have taken so long to assemble the parents but Ms. Henry was a muggle and special arrangements had to be made. The morning of the meeting Ms. Henry was to travel to Galloway where she was to meet Professor Johnson, the Muggle Studies Professor. It was thought he would be less likely to stand out as different to the muggles of the area.

Professor Johnson met Ms. Henry after his fourth attempt at locating her. Unfortunately, he started out on a completely bungled foot.

He approached a woman to inquire, "Mrs. Henry?" At her nod of assent, he continued his introduction, "Excellent. Fifth times a charm. I'm Professor Johnson. It is a pleasure to meet you despite the circumstances. Dreadful mess this. Cheating of all things. And at Hogwarts of all places! Well, shall we go?" He had a smile on his face that just begged to be removed.

The Muggle woman leveled a glare at him. "Mr. Johnson, first it's MS. Henry as I have never married. And second and more importantly my daughter would not cheat. And until such a time as all evidence, not conjecture, is presented and these children have been given their due process she is innocent. She hasn't been convicted of cheating, therefore, I would appreciate it if you kept your opinions to yourself. I will not have your diatribe of slander forced upon me. My daughter was correct when she insisted on having me present. What were you people thinking? Were you thinking at all? An unfounded accusation about such a serious offense and you thought to have meetings with the children without informing their parents?! Thank God my child has more sense than to allow that to happen. Do you understand such an accusation, even unproven, could have enormous and irreparable consequences for her future and the futures of the other two children?" All the Professor was able to do was to stare at her with a frozen, forced smile still on his face. She let out a frustrated sigh, "Well? Are we going to stand here much longer or are we continuing on our way?"

That brought the shell-shocked professor out of his stupor, "Yes, of course. I mean no! I mean, we'll continue if you are ready to go." She nodded she was ready. He spotted her luggage as he glanced around to make sure no one was watching before he brought out his wand. He placed a disillusionment charm on them both then shrunk her luggage to a size to fit in her purse. "If you will just place your hand on me..on my arm I mean, we can leave."

Ms. Henry placed her hand on his arm and was promptly apparated to Hogsmeade. She was unsteady on her feet for a few minutes before taking a deep breath, "Well, that was wholly unpleasant. I hope that won't be repeated anytime soon."

"No Mrs..Um..Ms. Henry. From here we'll take one of the school's magical carriages to the castle." He indicated for her proceed him. Maggie had told her about the magical carriages that pulled themselves so she wasn't completely surprised when she saw them. But riding in a carriage without someone steering it did make her a bit nervous.

Maggie met them at the entrance to the castle and immediately fell on her mum with a hug. "Mummy! I'm so glad you're here. This is madness." She had tears in her eyes when she pulled back from her mum.

"Oh honey, it's going to be alright. No matter what, I know you didn't do anything wrong and I am so proud of you. I'm so happy to see you. You have grown so much! I hate that I can't see you every day. But…" she took a deep breath and turned to two other teens that were present. "You must be Greg and Cho. Maggie has told me so much about you both. Thank you for being such good friends to her."

"Mum!" Maggie looked a little mortified at her mum's comment. "Yes, these are Greg Goyle and Cho Chang."

Ms. Henry shook each teen's hand before she turned to Professor Johnson who had been waiting patiently. "Mr. Johnson, how much time do we have before the meeting?"

"It's Professor, mum, not Mister."

Ms. Henry's eyes locked on Professor Johnson, "For. the. Moment. How much time?"

"About...about...30 minutes." He stammered. "May I show you the way?"

"No thank you. I would like some time to speak with my daughter and her friends before we do anything else." She turned to her daughter, "Where shall we talk...in private?"

Maggie smiled and led the way to a classroom that wasn't currently being used. "How's this mum?"

"This should be fine." She closed the door on the four of them. "Ok. Now tell me everything I don't already know. I'm sure there's a plan, yes?"

"Yes, there's a plan," Cho said and then laid out their plan.

Ms. Henry was impressed, "It sounds like you have thought this out. It sounds like a good plan but I think we need to get there."

The four left the room and headed to the meeting. The teens introduced their parents to each other and then Professor Johnson escorted Ms. Henry to meet the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster of the school as well as Mr. Malfoy as the representative of the Board of Governors.

The meeting was about to begin until Ms. Henry saw the layout of the chairs surrounding the children, she was not pleased. "No, this won't work; I will be sitting with my child not sitting across the room from her." She picked up a chair and moved it behind the others, then looked over to the other parents. Mrs. Chang took her chair over to sit with Cho and slowly Mr. Chang and the Goyles did the same.

After watching the rearrangement of the chairs, HeadMaster Dumbledore smiled at the families and started the meeting. "Welcome to you all. Thank you all for coming. We know why we are here today, so, children what do you have to say?"

Before anyone else could speak, Ms. Henry stood up. "HeadMaster, excuse me but I believe I would like to hear the charges and evidence that was gathered that made you come to the conclusion that these children cheated. After all, I am the lone outsider here and I don't know what processes you used. I would like to learn how it was done and how you...fine educators came to these conclusions." She did her best not to hesitate too much while describing her feelings about the teachers who were accusing her child.

HeadMaster Dumbledore gave her a slight smile, "There has not been an accusation of anything at this time. But of course, it is your right to hear what the professors believe. Professor Hawk-Monitor, if you would."

Professor Hawk-Monitor stood up and detailed the 'evidence' that led to them questioning the teens. After which Ms. Henry was more than irate. "This is what you have? You accuse three students of cheating based on this….this tripe?" Ms. Henry was about to go on a tear through their so-called evidence when she felt her daughter stand up.

"It's ok mum. Remember we have a plan but thanks." Maggie smiled at her mum and got a smile in return as sat down.

Maggie faced the assembly, "Professors and guests, we are here because our friend and fellow student, Greg Goyle started to get decent grades this year. It seems to us that you all decided that he had to be cheating because of those grades. Subsequently, you accused Cho and I as well. You asked us to explain ourselves but we decided as a group not to explain ourselves out of respect for our friend's right to privacy. You didn't accept that so we are here now, guilty until proven innocent." She had watched her mum practice her opening statements often enough to know to take a dramatic pause here so she did. The assembled people started to clear their throats at that revelation of their own actions. Maggie continued, "The reason we decided not to explain ourselves wasn't just to preserve Greg's privacy but because this...circumstance is unheard of in the wizarding world. So now, we are going to tell you a story. We each are going tell you our story in order. I ask that you hold all your questions until the end. Thank you. Greg?"

Maggie sat while Greg stood and faced the group, "Hello. I...um...I" *sigh* "I was tired of not getting decent grades no matter how hard I tried. I took extra classes and studied and nothing ever helped. So I asked for help from Cho Chang. She was kind enough to agree. But no matter how much we tried, nothing helped and I was ready to quit school." Greg sat down and Cho stood.

"I knew he knew the material because we talked about it. He understood the material but for some reason, his writing was always poor, letters backward and misspelled, wand motions incorrect and potions never worked. After one of his tests, I was studying it and not watching where I was walking so I literally ran into Maggie and sent the test parchments flying. Maggie, whom I didn't know at this point, helped me gather the papers and after glancing at them she asked me a very important question. 'How does dyslexia affect your wand work and potions?' I have to tell you, I had no idea what she was talking about." Cho sat and Maggie stood.

"And I soon discovered nobody in the wizarding world has any idea what dyslexia or learning disabilities are. A learning disability is what muggles call it when someone's brain, Greg's in this case, doesn't register information the way you or I would."

Mr. Goyle abruptly stood up, "My son's brain is just fine. How dare you say his brain doesn't work!"

Maggie smiled at Mr. Goyle, "You're correct, Mr. Goyle, Greg's brain does work just fine, it just works differently." She turned back to the assembly, "Learning is a skill like anything else. If what you are doing doesn't work, you need to find a different way to do it. All we did was figure out why he was having trouble and what had to happen to change it. We found a different way for Greg to learn but he's the one who did all the work. But I'm getting ahead of the story." She took a breath and started to pace a little while talking. "When I realized there was no learning disability information in the wizarding world, I wrote my Mother and asked her to send me whatever information she could find on dyslexia. And she did." Maggie produced all the printouts, documents and letters she had received from her mum at the same time Ms. Henry produced all the letters Maggie had written her regarding Greg. She handed the letters to the Headmaster, "Here are all of our correspondence. As you can see it has taken a while figuring all this out.

"Now you may wonder what dyslexia is. Dyslexia is by definition 'a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence'*. And that's the key: it does NOT affect general intelligence. You can ask him just about any question about a subject and he can verbally give you the correct answer but ask him to write it out...that's when the problem showed its ugly head.

"I can see by your faces that some of you don't believe me about all this. So let's do a little test. Professor McGonagall? Would you please ask Greg a question he can verbally answer?"

"Of course. Mr. Goyle, what is Golpalott's Third Law?" She thought she might have thrown him a tough problem since she asked a potions question rather than a transfiguration question.

Greg stood up, "Golpalott's Third Law states that an antidote for a blended poison is equal to more than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components. Basically, it states if you blend 2 or more poisons together to create a new poison, you can't just blend their antidotes together to make an effective antidote for the new poison."

Maggie addressed Professor McGonagall, "Professor, is that correct?"

It was Professor Snape that answered instead, "Yes, it is. But you said, Ms. Henry, that his brain doesn't learn the way we do. How is it possible that he knows this?"

"Professor, you have lectured on this topic on more than one occasion and the spoken word rather than written instructions are easier for him to learn & remember. Greg are you up for another demonstration?" He nodded. "Professor Flitwick, please demonstrate the wand motions for a spell that Greg would not have studied yet."

Professor Flitwick drew his wand and proceeded to do the wand motion for the Softening Charm. Greg did his best to follow the motions and repeat them. But when he got to one part he went the wrong way.

"That doesn't prove anything. He could be faking it!" Professor Hawk-Monitor exclaimed.

Maggie huffed a frustrated sigh and was about to lose her cool before her mum called to her, "Maggie! Psst! Maggie!" When Maggie looked at her she motioned her daughter over.

Maggie took a couple of steps to reach Ms. Henry. Whispering so only her mum and friends could hear her, "Mum, these people...I don't know how to convince them."

"You can't honey. Don't try. You are accused of cheating, prove that you haven't been. That's what you need to do today. The rest may come with time." Ms. Henry advised.

Maggie stopped and looked at her mum. "Right, ok." She looked at her friends and turned to address the assembled adults. She mumbled under her breath, "Lord I hope this works." Louder, "You think he might have been faking the wand motions. Fair point. If you are willing to come with us, we can show you our workspace. All of our notes and work are laid out. All you have to do is come to look."

"Yes! I would like to see this place." Professor Babbling exclaimed with a smile on her face. "These students deserve to have their efforts observed. We are after all here for the truth."

All three teens and their families were surprised at the show of support from the Ancient Runes Professor. They had no idea a professor had been supporting them and were pleased by the revelation.

There was some grumbling from some people, but when the four House Heads agreed with Professor Babbling everyone agreed.

Maggie looked to her friends and smiled saying, "This way. We are going up to the 7th floor."

Cho and Greg lead the way from the classroom so Maggie could talk quietly with her mum. "I'm sorry about all this mum."

"Honey it's not your fault and you are doing really really great. These...people are unbelievable. I'm so proud of you for standing up and making sure you and your friends had representation in this asinine process. But that's for later today. Right now, I wanna know how things are going for you apart from this mess."

"Things are fine, mum." Her mum gave her a look that said: "don't even try that with me". Maggie smiled a little, "Honestly, mum. Things are better. Working with Greg and Cho has been...I feel like I almost belong here, you know? Like things were finally really starting to make sense. Then all this started to happen. Did I tell you what Greg was going to do?" Ms. Henry shook her head no so Maggie continued, "He was going to just accept being expelled to save Cho and me from being accused of doing anything wrong!"

"I assume that's when you sent for me?"

"Yes. I was NOT going to let him do that. It was ridiculous."

"That's my girl!" They kept walking and talking but eventually they reached their destination. "Honey, where are we?" She asked watching the ugly moving tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to ballet dance.

Maggie said "This is where we have been studying. The Room of Requirement." She opened the door and led her mum inside where all the others were waiting.

"Oh! The magical room you told me about? The one that changed itself into what you needed."

"Yep." Louder she addressed the group. "So, um...this is where we've been working. As you can see the room has provided us with just about everything we needed from blackboards and chalk to desks and a mini potions lab." She glanced at Professor Snape to see how he would feel about them doing potions here.

He simply raised his eyebrow and walked over to make sure it safe while asking, "Where did you get all the ingredients?"

This had Maggie stuttering, "Owl...Owl order...mostly." His sharp eyes fixed on her, "Well, some of the ingredients needed to be fresh. If we couldn't get them, we just talked the potion making through and worked on stirring motions and such." As his eyes were still fixed on her, she paled but continued, "Please..um...Pl...Please look around. All our work is just as we left it. Feel free to ask us any questions you have about all this."

The adults started to wander around the room, reading notes and assignments.


End file.
